Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery has given his response to a federal appeals court ruling Arizona's 20-week abortion ban, and it's about as dramatic as the programming for the Lifetime TV network.

"The ruling is disappointing in that it permits the Kermit Gosnells of the country to continue their grisly operations under legal protection while denying Arizona the ability to protect expectant mothers and their children in the womb," Montgomery says (with what we'd like to think is a single tear rolling down his cheek).

According to the appellate court ruling, everyone (which would include Montgomery) was in agreement that fetuses aren't viable at 20 weeks gestational age.

Gosnell was convicted of doing illegal late-term abortions -- past 24 weeks, in Pennsylvania -- some of which resulted in live births, and their spinal cords being snipped by Gosnell, who's now a convicted murderer.

Montgomery, who supposedly has a pretty good grasp of how laws work, failed to mention any of that jazz.

Aside from Montgomery's dramatics, he's also come with a fact -- he says he and other defenders of Arizona's law will seek review by the Supreme Court.

"If the 9th Circuit cannot permit Arizona to act because of Supreme Court precedent, then the Supreme Court must change that precedent.," Montgomery's statement says.